Plastic toothpicks



28, 1956 R. B. BRIGGS 2,760,628

PLASTIC TOOTHPICKS Filed Dec. 31, 1952 INVENTOR.

Robert B. Briggs United States Patent PLASTIC TOOTHPICKS Robert B. Briggs, Natick, Mass. Appiication December 31, 1952, Serial No. 328,931 3 Claims. (Cl. 206-29) My present invention relates to plastic toothpicks and to cards thereof adapted to be packaged in folders or envelopes.

Wooden toothpicks have objectionable features that have long been recognized. Among these may be noted their tendency to splinter in use and the difficulty of presenting them to the public in an attractive, convenient and sanitary manner. Furthermore, wooden toothpicks are not as thin as they should be for various uses. As a consequence, proposals have been made to provide plastic toothpicks as such stock has a satisfactory texture and affords a wide range of fast colors. Plastics also have the advantage of enabling toothpicks to be produced and packaged so that they can be dispensed under sanitary conditions as in envelopes and folders ensuring maximum convenience to the users and affording an excellent advertising medium. Molded plastics are not satisfactory for use in the production of toothpicks, however, because of objectionable size limitations since a molded plastic toothpick of the size and shape of a conventional wooden. toothpick is too brittle and otherwise lacks the desirable characteristics thereof. Extruded plastics, on the other hand, are too flexible when formed from sheet stock of gauge otherwise suitable.

in accordance with the invention, each toothpick con-- sists of a body of thin and flexible plastic stock that is pointed at one end to provide a tip and has a longitudinal crimp extending substantially from end to end thereof but terminating short of the apex of the tip. Such a toothpick is longitudinally stiffened throughout the main. part thereof, while its tip remains relatively flexible there by enabling material costs to be held to a minimum and the toothpicks to have novel and advantageous characteristics.

in the accompanying drawings, an embodiment of the invention is shown which illustrates its novel features and advantages.

in the drawings:

Fig. l is a view, in perspective, of a folder of toothpicks in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a section, on an enlarged scale, along the: indicated lines 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an edge view of a card of toothpicks formed from a plastic sheet, and

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of such a card.

In the drawings, each toothpick 5 is shown as having a pointed end or tip 6 that is preferably somewhat rounded. The toothpicks 5 are made of relatively thin and flexible stock such as plastic in sheet form which has the advantage of low cost and the inherent disadvantage of being too flexible. That disadvantage is obviated by forming each toothpick 5 with a longitudinal. crimp 7 which extends from a point rearwardly of the apex of the tip 6, but preferably includes a part thereof, substantially to its other end. By this construction, the main part of each toothpick is sufficiently stiffened while its tip retains its relative flexibility to facilitate its use 2,760,628 Patented Aug. 28, 1956 without injury to the gums or fillings. At the same time,- the crimp 7 imparts to the main toothpick part a cross sectional shape making it easy to hold in use while its tip 6 is substantially flat.

In practise, the toothpicks are cut by dies from sheets of plastic and cellulose acetate in the order of .0125 or .015 inch in thickness has proved satisfactory for this purpose. in production, a card 8 is formed consisting of a plurality of toothpicks 5 interconnected by a web 9 containing the number of toothpicks desired for packaging and card having a score line 10 to enable individual toothpicks to be readily separated therefrom. During the formation of the toothpicks in cards, the crimps 7 effect their spacing throughout the major portion of their length as may best be seen in Fig. 4 with the crimps merging with flat end portions as shown in Fig. 3.

Toothpicks in accordance with the invention are adapted to be packaged in envelopes or in the same manner as paper matches as by connecting the webs 9 of a plurality of cards 8, as by a staple 11, to a folder 12, which may be formed from a plastic sheet or from cardboard. In that case, see Figs. 1 and 2, one card 8 may be so disposed relative to another so that its toothpicks may nest on the V which adjacent sides of adjacent toothpicks of the other card thus positioning the points of the toothpicks of the respective cards out of alinement and making the package suitably compact.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that toothpicks in accordance with the invention are well adapted to be inexpensively manufactured with their construction rendering them satisfactory in use. In addition, the toothpicks are adapted to be packaged in ways that meet commercial requirements, including adaptability to advertising, while enabling sanitary conditions to be maintained until the entire contents of the package have been used.

What I therefore claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A toothpick package comprising a folder, a pair of cards secured in said folder, each of said cards being of relatively thin and flexible plastic stock and consisting of a plurality of toothpicks, and a web interconnecting one end of the toothpicks, the other end of each toothpick being pointed to provide a tip and a longitudinal crimp of V-shaped cross section extending substantially from end to end thereof but terminating short of the apex of said pointed end thereby to stiffen the main part thereof, each toothpick of one card being disposed to nest against a V defined by adjacent sides of adjacent toothpicks of the other card in the zone of their crimps.

2. A toothpick comprising a body of relatively thin and flexible plastic stock having one of its ends in the form of a V-shaped point to provide a tip, and a longitudinal crimp of V-shaped section extending substantially from end-to-end of said body approximately along the center line thereof but terminating in said pointed end short of the apex thereof to stiffen said toothpick except in the zone of said apex and to retain flexibility in said zone.

3. A toothpick card of relatively thin and flexible plastic stock, said card comprising a plurality of toothpicks each of which has a V-shaped end to provide a pointed tip, and a Web interconnecting the other ends of the toothpicks, each toothpick having a longitudinal crimp of V-shaped section extending substantially from end-to-end thereof along its center line but terminating in said tip short of the zone of the apex thereof to stiffen said toothpick in said zone, the tips and the webs occupying the same plane.

(References on following page) References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS France Nov. 10, 1911 France Oct. 3, 1932 France Feb. 16, 1948 

